Vehicle latch



H. J. SHAY VEHICLE LATCH Nov. 22, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 4, 1965 mamas-row Z 1.1% W Jaw -M UTYRN3E V H. J. SHAY VEHICLE LATCH Nov. 22 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VEMTQKJ @(ozrffl 4 ALMAJ Filed Dec. 4, 1963 United States Patent Filed Dec. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 327,965 2 Claims. (Cl. 292-229) This invention relates to a latch of the type commonly used on the doors of automotive vehicles and, more particularly, to a latch which is operated by manually moving an operating member between latched and unlatched positions. Such latches usually include a latch locking means which is selectively positioned to prevent the operating member from moving to the unlatched position.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved latch of the above character in Which all of the functions of the latch, namely, locking, unlocking and unlatching, may be performed by the simple motions of a single manual actuator in the form of a button disposed adjacent the garnish molding of the door.

A more detailed object is to provide the latch with a member which is turned back and forth by the garnish button and which cooperates with both the operating member and the latch locking means so that, in one direction of turning, the locking means is activated while the latching means is inactivated and the operating member is moved to the unlatched position upon turning in the opposite direction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle door utilizing the novel latch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but shows the parts in a novel position.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrates a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but shows the parts in a moved position.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but shows the parts in another moved position.

For purposes of illustration, the invention is shown in the drawings as embodied in a door latch 10 for use with the door 11 of an automotive vehicle and includes a latching member 12 carried by the door to coact with a striker 13 (FIG. '3) which is mounted on a post 14 of the vehicle frame. Herein, the latching member is of the gear type and includes a plurality of teeth 15 which cooperate in the usual manner with a tooth 16 on the striker 13, that is, the gear teeth engage the striker tooth as the door is closed and this turns the gear 12 into latching engagement with the striker.

To support the gear 12 for turning, the latter is fast on a horizontal shaft 17 which projects through a hole 18 in the end wall 19 of the door 11 and is journaled on one leg 20 of an angle bracket 21. The bracket is disposed within the door with the leg 20 fastened to the inner side of the end wall 19 and withthe other leg 22 extending alongside the inner wall 23 of the door. The outboard end of the shaft 17 is supported by an L-shaped bracket 24 which projects outwardly from the leg 20 and over the gear 12. The usual anti-burst disk 25 is disposed between the bracket 24 and the gear 12.

3,287,049 Patented Nov. 3 22, 1966 Fast on the inner end of the shaft 17 is a ratchet 26 (FIG. 5) with three teeth 27, 28 and 29 which cooperate with a pawl 30. The latter is formed on the lower end of a downwardly projecting arm 31 Otf an operating lever 32 fulcrumed on the leg 20 of the bracket 21 by means of a pin 33. When the parts are in the latching position as shown in FIG. 5, the pawl engages the tooth 27 on the ratchet 26 and, to open the door 11 from the outside, a conventional push button (not shown) is depressed and bears against a flange 34 on an upright contactor arm 35 on the operating lever 32. This swings the lever clockwise and releases the pawl from the tooth 27. A contractile spring 36 acting between the flange 34 and a cup 37 on the shaft urges the ratchet 26 in a counterclockwise direction and this, together with the action of the gear teeth 15 and the striker tooth 16 upon the opening of the door, turns the ratchet so that the intermediate safety position tooth 28 passes the pawl and the tooth 29 engages the pawl. At that time, the parts are in the unlatched position. A torsion spring 38 anchored to the pin 33 has a free end 39 which bears against the flange 34 to urge the pawl toward the ratchet.

In order to open the door from the inside, a manually operable member 40, which herein is in the form of a lever, is mounted on the leg 22 of the mounting bracket 21 by a pin 41 to turn about an axis generally perpendioular to the fulcrum axis of the operating lever 32. The member is formed with a downwardly facing abutment surface 42 which, when the member 40 is turned clockwise as viewed in FIG. 4, engages the upper edge of a horizontal arm 43 on the operating lever 32. Continued turning of the member 40 pushes the arm 43 downwardly and swings the pawl 30 away from the ratchet 26.

Means is provided for locking the latch 10 in the latched position to prevent unauthorized opening of the door 11. In the form shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, this means comprises a blocking lever 44 wfulcrumed by a pin 45 on the leg 22 of the angle bracket 21 and operable selectively to hold the operating lever 32 in the latched position or to release this lever. For this purpose a notch 46 is formed in one side of an upwardly extending arm 47 of the blocking lever 44 and the notch is disposed at the level of the arm 43 of the operating lever 32 when the latter is in the latched position. Thus, the blocking lever may be swung counterclockwise to the position shown in FIG. 3 in which the arm 43 of the lever 32 is disposed within the notch and is prevented from moving toward the unlatched position. Swinging of the lever 44 in the opposite direction to the position shown in FIG. 4 unblocks the-operating lever 32 and permits the pawl 30 to be released from the ratchet 26. As is customary in latches of this type, the blocking lever 44 may be swung back and forth from outside the vehicle by a key (not shown) which turns a shaft 48 (FIGS. 4 and 5) extending transversely of the door. The shaft 48 carries a finger 49 which projects into a notch 50 in the lower arm 51 of the blocking lever and which, by abutting one side or the other of the notch, swings the blocking lever between its two positions.

In accordance with the present invention, the latch 10 is constructed in a novel manner so that all the functions of the latch may be performed from the inside by the simple motion of a single manual actuator in the form of a shiftable button disposed adjacent the garnish molding 53 of the door 11 (FIG. 1). Thus, the button may be moved in one direction to lock the latch while movement of the button in the opposite direction shifts the parts first to the unlocked position and then the unlatched position. For this purpose, the member or lever 40 is rocked back and forth by the button 52 and, in this motion, not only moves the arm 43 of the operating lever 3 32 to the unlatching position but also coacts with the latch locking means to lock and unlock the latch.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1

through 5, the button is connected to the lever 40 .by a

vertical link 54. The latter is pivotally coupled to an arm 55 of the lever 40 so that the pivot 56 is radially spaced from the fulcrum 41 and angularly spaced from the abutment surface 42. Herein, the abutment surface is one .edge of a second arm 57 on the lever 40 and this arm is arranged so the upper end of the blocking lever 44 is in the path of the arm as the latter is swung in a clockwise direction. Thus, in one continued motion, the arm 57 swings the blocking lever 44 to the unlocked position and pushes the operating lever 32 to the unlatched position. This is achieved by simply lifting the button 52.

When swung in'the opposite direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 3), the lever 40 cooperates with the blocking lever 44 to turn the latter to the locked position. For this purpose, the lever 40 is formed with a third arm 58 angularly spaced from both the arm 55 and the arm 57 and a surface 59 on the end of the arm 58 abuts the side of the lower arm 51 of the blocking lever when the lever is turned in a counterclockwise direction as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3. Thus, by depressing the button 52 when the door 11 is latched closed, the lever 40 turns the blocking lever to the position in which the notch 46 receives the arm 43. of the operating lever 32 and the latch is locked.

In a modified form of the invention, the latch locking means is formed integrally with the lever 40 as illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 8 in which the corresponding parts are indicated by the same but primed reference characters. As in the preferred embodiment, the lever 40' includes a first arm 55' pivotally connected to the push button rod 54 and a second arm 57' angularly spaced from the first arm to engage and turn the arm 43' of the operating lever 32. In this instance, however, the third arm 58' projects in under the operating lever arm 43' and the latch locking means is a finger 60 projecting upwardly from the outer end of the arm 58 to be disposed behind the arm 43'.

With the modified arrangement, the parts are in the locked position when the rod 54' is in its lowermost position as illustrated in full lines in FIG. 6. At such a time, an attempt to open the door from the outside starts the turning of the operating lever 32 but, after turning through a small angle, the arm 43' of the operating lever 32' engages the arm 58 of the lever 40. Thereafter, the operating lever turns the lever 40 slightly in the clockwise direction until the arm 43' becomes wedged against the side of the finger 60 as shown in FIG. 7. At that time, further movement of the operating lever is prevented and, since the permitted movement of the operating lever is not sufi'lcient to disengage the pawl from the ratchet, the latch 10 is locked.

By lifting the rod 54' and turning the lever 40 clockwise from the full line position to the broken line position in FIG. 6, the locking finger 60 swings away from the arm 43' of the operating lever 32' and, at the same time, the arm 57' of the lever 40 engages the arm 43' which thus is turned downwardly to release the latch 10' and permit opening of the door. When the rod 54 is placed in an intermediate position with the arm 57' of the lever 40' merely adjacent the arm 43' as illustrated in FIG. 8, the latch 10' is in the unlocked condition and the door maybe opened from the outside. Thus, in this position of the parts, the arm 43' is above the end 61 of the finger 60 as shown in full lines so that the arm engages the finger end (broken lines) as the operating lever 32 starts: to turn in the unlatching direction. This permits further turning of the operating lever since the arm pushes the finger 60 ahead of it upon such turning.

It will be observed that with a latch arranged in accordance with the invention, all of the functions of the latch may be performed by a single manual operator 52. At the same time, the latch is comparatively simple in construction. Moreover, the operation of the latch requires only a rectilinear motion making possible to use a button at the garnish molding 53 for the operator 52. Thus, the latch is especially suited for use with doors which are comparatively narrow.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vehicle door, the combination of, a latch having an operating element movable back and rorth along a predetermined path between latched and unlatched positions, a lever fulcrumed to turn about a predetermined axis and having three arms projecting outwardly from and angularly spaced around said axis, a shiftable garnish molding button connected to a first one of said arms and operable to swing said lever (from a locked position through an unlocked position to an unlatching position and back, an abutment carried by a second one of said arms ed to turn about a predetermined axis, a button extend-i ing through the garnish molding of said door and manual.- ly movable relative thereto, a connection coupling said button to said member at a point radially spaced from said axis whereby the button turns the member back and forth about said axis, an abutment surface rigid with said member and angularly spaced from said connection to engage "said operating element in one direction of turning of said member and move said element toward said unlatched position, a part rigid with said member and angularly spaced from both said connection and said surface, and

a Wedging member carried by said part and disposed in.

the path of said element when said memberis turned in the opposite direction to engage and Wedge said element against movement to said unlatched position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,094,550 4/1914 Fleischauer et a1.

1,332,876 3/ 1920 Appleby.

2,131,506 9/1938 Gasstrom.

2,644,707 7/1953 Dall.

2,835,526 5/ 1958 Van Voorhees 292216 3,027,185 3/1962 Allen et al.

3,047,325 7/1962 De Vito.

3,049,372 8/1962 Pickles 292216 f EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH D. SEERS, PATRICK A.

CLIFFORD, RICHARD E. MOORE, Examiners, 

1. IN A VEHICLE DOOR, THE COMBINATION OF, A LATCH HAVING AN OPERATING ELEMENT MOVABLE BACK AND FORTH ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH BETWEEN LATCHED AND UNLATCHED POSITIONS, A LEVER FULCRUMED TO TURN ABOUT A PREDETERMINED AXIS AND HAVING THREE ARMS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID ANGULARLY SPACED AROUND SAID AXIS, A SHIFTABLE GARNISH MOLDING BUTTON CONNECTED TO A FIRST ONE OF SAID ARMS AND OPERABLE TO SWING SAID LEVER FROM A LOCKED POSITION THROUGH AN UNLOCKED POSITION TO AN UNLATCHING POSITION AND BACK, AN ABUTMENT CARRIED BY A SECOND ONE OF SAID ARMS AND OPERABLE AS SAID LEVER IS SWUNG TO SAID UNLATCHING POSITION TO ENGAGE AND TURN SAID OPERATING ELEMENT TO SAID UNLATCHED POSITION, AND A WEDGING MEMBER CARRIED BY THE THRID ONE OF SAID ARMS AND PROJECTING INTO THE PATH OF SAID OPERATING ELEMENT WHEN SAID LEVER IS IN SAID LOCKED POSITION TO ENGAGE AND WEDGE SAID ELEMENT AGAINST MOVEMENT TO SAID UNLATCHED POSITION. 